Ampule cleansing machine



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I AMPULE CLEANSING MACHINE Filed Sept. 13, 1941 Sheets-Sheet 4 WITNESSESINVEN TOR Wank 605502;

BY won/ 0% 7 ATTORNEYS July 3, 1945.

F. COZZOLI AMPULE CLEANSING MACHINE 5 'Shets-Sheet Filed Sept. 13, 1941I 7g v 1 .INVENTOR WITNESSES 7 ,Fr'av k'cogzolb v v 1% I '7 7 ne YATTORNEYS Pa tentecl July 3, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE AMPULECLEANSING MACHINE Frank Cozzoli, Plainfield, N. J. Application September13, 1941; Serial No. 410,727

3 Claims. (Cl. 134-72) This invention relates to washing machinery, andmore particularly to machinery used in cleansing, sterilizing and dryingcontainers.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a machine adapted tothe sanitary handling of containers through a plurality of steps,cleansing, and automatically delivering the sterile containers withoutbeing touched by human hands.

A further object is to provide a machine of;

the character described, which will be adapted Fig. 9 is a'sectionalview showing the operation of the trough; 1

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing the operation of the fluidcontrol means;

Fig. 11 is a ide elevation of the ,cam shaft used to control theswitches operating the valves to handle delicate containers, such asampules.

depending upon the use to which the ampules are to be put, but, as anexample, may consist of a strong cleansing solution in the first step,

a rinsing solution inth'e second, steam in the third, and hotfair fordrying purposes in the fourth stage. I have shown a machine adapted topass through six successive stages, but it will be appreciated that anynumber of stages may beused. y g

A still further object is to provide means whereby :the washing-stagesare keptseparate .which determine'the amount of fluid or air used; Fig.12 is a cross-sectional view on the line in-l2 of Fig. 11; .1

Fig.13 is a cross-sectional view on the line I3- -|3 ofFig. 1. 1 Mymachine includes a frame In of any suitable type having a table II and ashelf l2. Mounted on the shelf I2 is a motor I3 which by means of a beltor chain Hand a gear box I5 rotates the shaft. It on which is mounted asprocket ll engaging the chain I8. On the other 1 end of the, shaft I6is mounted an arm I9 bearfrom one another so that the ampules .aresub-l. jected only to the predetermined treatment pules are moved tothe'next stage. In the accompanying drawings- Fig. 1 is a side elevationpartly broken away" to show the operation of mymachine;

Fig. 2, is a top plan view of a portion thereof; Fig. 3 is across-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of.

sections; v

the trough and nozzle ing a cam roller 20. The chain [8 engages asprocket 25 mounted on the shaft 26. Also mounted on the shaft 26 is adouble arm 21 carrying a cam roller 28. f l i 1 Pivoted at 30 to anextensionflof the table H is a lever arm 3|. At the oppositeend of the.arm 3| is a, pawl 32. Mounted on the shafts 33 and 34 are two pairs ofsprockets 35 and 36. Also mounted on the shaft 34 is a ratchet 31, andit'. will be 'seen that as the shaft 26 rotates, due to the action ofthe chain I8 'ontlie sprocket 25, the lever arm 3! willbe contacted bythe roller 28 which will cause itto rise and fall. .Thiswill causethepawl 32 toengage the ratchet 3.1 and intermittently rotate the shaft34and. thejsprock V et 36. i

Mounted for rotation on the sprockets 35 and 36 area series of units 40pivoted attheir endsf H b pins 42 to form an. endless linked belt. I

" 45 and positionedby means of the threaded lmembers. 46 and 41. Thememberfi'l tapers at Fig."5 isa cross-sectional view taken on the.

line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 6-- 5 of Fig. 5;

Fig. "7 is a cross-sectional detail view of the its lower end toform anipple 48 ed to be engaged by the socket 50. 1

The socket 50 is provided with a soft rubber ,washer. 5| and is mountedon the tube 55in the bar 54. The tube 55 is slidablymounted in the bar54 and a spring 52 exertsupward pressure against the socket 50. A lockWasher :56 limits the upward movement of the'tube. The lower end of thetube 55 forms a nipple 51. The bars 542 are mounted on a carriage 58which is' provided with tubular end members or sleeves 60 slidablymounted on the supports 61. Mounted which is adapton the lower end ofthe tubular member 88 are rollers 82.

The shaft 28 is provided with cams 85 adapted to engage the rollers 82on the carriage '88. It will be seen that upon each rotation of theshaft 28 the carriage 58 will be raised and the sockets 58 brought intopressure engagement with the nipples 48. The cam 88 and the cam roller28 are so positioned upon the shaft 28 that the roller cam 28 will notbe in engagement with the lever arm 8| while the high portion of the cam85 is in engagement with the rollers 82 so that the sockets 58 will beout of engagement with the nipple 48 when the arm 8| and the pawl 82move the ratchet 81 and sprockets 88 and 88.

As will be apparent from Fig. 1, the rotation is in a clockwisedirection, and at the discharge end of the machine a shield 18 isprovided to maintain the ampules A on the tubes 44 until they reach theend 1| of the shield 18.

In the framework 12 is a slot 18. A plunger bar 14 operates in the slot18 in the following manner: The fork 15 is pivoted at 18 to either endof the bar 14 and merges into the arm 11 pivoted at 18. As. the shaft I8rotates in'a counterclockwise direction, the roller arm 28 disengagesthe arm 11 and allows it to drop to the dotted position shown in Fig. 1.This allows the bar 14 to drop in the slot 18 and thus removes theampule A from the tube 44 to a level with the tray on the shelf 18.

Mounted on the support 88 is a pusher 8| having a plurality of fingers82 spaced from each other to coincide with the number of tubes 44 ineach of the units 48.

Pivoted at 83 to the shelf I2 is an arm 84 which in turn is linked bythe members 88 to the rear of the pusher 8|. A spring 81 engages th arm84 to normally hold the pusher in a rearward position and to clear theslot 18. As

the cam roller 82 rotates it engages the arm 84 and forces it againstthe spring 81 so that the pusher will move the ampules from the top ofthe bar 14 onto the tray. Asthe roller moves along the arm 84 into theslot 88 pressure on the arm 84 is relieved and the spring 81 will causethe arm 84 to snap back and to move the pusher 8| out of the path of thebar 14 as the roller engages the erm 11 to move the bar 14 upwardly toreceive additional ampules.

Mounted above the table I8 is a frame 88 carry-- ing a. motor 8| whichoperates the belt 82. The belt 82 rotates a series of pulleys 88. Thepulleys 88 are positioned above each ampule and engage a washer 84by-means of a shaft 85. The

washers 84 are adapted to engage the top of each ampule as it is forcedupwardly bythe pressure of the cleansing fluid to cause it to spinduring the cleansing operation, thus insuring a complete cleansing.

Each unit 48 is provided with a roller 48 on the pin 42 which engages atrack I82 so that when the bar 84 is raised upwardly the unit 48 will besteadied and maintained in position. The rollers 48 ar also engaged bythe sprockets 88 and 88 to move the linked belt.

As previously pointed out, each unit 48 has series of tubes mountedtherein. In my machine I have shown four tubes but any convenient numbermay be applied. Each unit 48 is supplied-with a trough 48 to collectcleansing fluid or other material as it drains from the ampules.

In the machine as described six stages are provided, that is, eachampule moves through six intermittent movements and may receive asvaveo.troughs is shown in Fig. 9, and it will be seen that each trough 48discharges into a separate drainage trough so that the fluids used ineach operation are kept separate and may be re-used. The dischargeissuing from these troughs flows into the several channels 88' oftroughs 88 through a series of sluice-ways 48' of staggered lengths eachsluice-way being directedinto a separate channel. I

Leading to each of the nipples 51 is a hose I88 which connects with amanifold I8I. Each of the manifolds MI is provided with'valves I88 atone end and valves I84 at the other end. Leading from the valve I88 is apipe I88 which -may lead to an air or steam source, and from the thechain H8 and the sprockets H4 and II4" from the shaft 28. The shaft I I2carries six cam members 8 which are identical in construction and onecam member II8 which i slightly different in construction. The cammembers, II8 may be one continuous cam or six separate ones as shown.Each of the cam members III is adapted to operate a switch I28, therebeing all:

switches, one for each stage of the operation. The

cam member 8 is adapted to operate a switch identical in all respectswith the switch I 28 but controlling the new of air through all of thestages.

The switch I28 is mounted on a bracket HI and is adapted to pivotthereon at I22. It consists of two contact members-one stationary memberI28. and one spring member I24. The spring member 124 has an extendedframe I28 adapted to engage the cam. Anangle iron I28 is flxed to thebase I8 and bears a screw I21 engaging therear of the switch I28. Alight spring |28 tends to keep the switch member upwardly against thescrew I21. I

It will be appreciated that the switches operated by the cams 8 eachoperate one of the valves I84 controlling the flow of liquid while theswitch operated by the cam II8 controlsall of the valves I88 controllingthe flow of air orfldry steam. The amount of fluid supplied in eachstage may be controlled by the adjustment of the screw I21 on the switchcontrolling that'stage. In other words, the screw I21 may be adjusted sothat the flexible end I28 is engagedby the cam for a longer or shorterperiod of time. By screwing the screw I21 downwardly the flexible memberI28 will engage the cam sooner than when the screw I21 is screwedoutwardly or upwardly. The amount of air delivered in each stage mayalso be controlled by the adjustment of the switch I28 controlling thevalves I88. It will be seen that diilerent amounts of fluid may bedelivered in each of the diflerent stages by causing the posed to thedirection of movement of the belt valve I04 controlling that stage toopen sooner. .All of the valves I04 will of course close simultaneouslyat which point the cam IIG will cause all of the valves I03 to open fora predetermined time.

In operation the ampules may be placed upon the tubes 44 from the tableH either by hand or by means of an automatic feeding mechanism (notshown). mittently moved forward, the ampules will come under the washers94. At that stage the upward movement of the carriage 58 will cause thesockets 50to engage the nipple 48 and the valves I04 will be opened bytheir respective switches I20 in accordance with the predeterminedpattern. The ampules will then be subjected to a cleansing fluid, eitherliquid or gaseous, and will be forced against the washers 94 and thusrotated. As the high point of the cam II5 passes over the spring memberI24, the valves I04 will close and at the same time the valves I03 willbe opened by the switch engaging the cam II 6 allowing a blast of air ordryin gas to be delivered to the tubes 44 to blow them and the ampulesfree of liquid. The carriage 58 will then drop and the units will bemoved into the second phase where the operation will be repeated withthe desired cleansing fluid,

As shown in the drawings, each ampule will be moved through six stagesand be subjected to six treatments with a drying operation after eachtreatment. The ampules will then move against the shield I and bedeposited on the tray.

As has beenpreviously stated, I have shown units adapted to carry fourampules, but it will be appreciated that any number of ampules may becarried by a single unit and the ampules may be subjected to any numberof intermittent treatments without departing from the invention hereindisclosed.

Iclaim:

1. In a conveyor type washing machine, a continuous linked belt, each ofthe links of said belt comprising an elongated run-ofl trough fordischarge fluids, said trough being transversely dis- As the series ofunits 40 are interand open at both ends, a series of sluice-wayssituated at each end or said run-off troughs and communicatingtherewith, said sluice-ways being of staggered lengths, a receivingtrough communicating with each said series of sluice-ways, saidreceiving trough being longitudinally divided into separate channels,each channel communicating with a separate sluice-way, and a lead-offconduit communicating with each said channel at the discharge point ofsaid channel.

2. In a conveyor type washing machine, a series of washing units, eachof said units constituting a trough, a plurality of washing'tubesextending through said trough, a nipple on the underside of each troughcommunicating with each of said washing tubes, means for moving saidtroughs and thereby said tubes intermittently, means for supplyingdifierent cleaning agents through said nipples to said tubes in theintervals between their intermittent movements, a second trough dividedinto separate channels, and a series of sluice-ways of staggered lengthscommunicating respectively with said separate channels and receiving theflow of the first men tioned troughs and delivering said flow to thedifferent channels of the second trough for sep arate collectionthereof.

3. In a conveyor type washing machine, a series of washing units, eachof said units constituting a trough, a plurality of washing tubesextending through said trough, means for moving said troughsand therebysaid tubes intermittently. means for supplying difierent cleaning agentsto said tubes in the intervals between their intermittent movements, 9.second trough divided into separate channels, and a series of,-sluice-ways of staggered lengthscommunicating FRANK COBZZOLI.

